I admire Joseph Smith.

[_Joseph]

"And besides, his name will be held for good or for bad. Very few people will stand in the middle."

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Very few? Most of the world has never heard of the guy and wouldn't care if they did. We know who he is but we are few in number compared to the rest of the world.

[_Blixa]

I agree with everything said in the sources Nevo and Fence Sitter referenced. Though both Quinn and Brodie failed to mention stick pulling in their assessments of Smith's accomplishments.

Oh sure throw out a teaser and leave us wanting more. I see how you work.

Well here's a potentially doctrinal source, a 1971 New Era article, "Stick-Pulling: Newly Revived Game of the 1840s, " in which we learn:

In the summer of 1843, the champion stick-puller of Hancock County, Illinois, was Joseph Smith, Jr., our latter-day Prophet. On June 30 of that year, Joseph met with several thousand citizens of Nauvoo at a large outdoor gathering to tell them of his recent escape from those who were trying to return him to Missouri to face false charges. During his opening remarks, the Prophet described how he passed the time while held captive. He was feeling elated. He had beaten his enemies both legally and physically. He said, “I meet you with a heart full of gratitude to Almighty God … I am well—I am hearty. I hardly know how to express my feelings. I feel as strong as a giant. I pulled sticks with the men coming along, and I pulled up with one hand the strongest man that could be found. Then two men tried, but they could not pull me up. …” (Documentary History of the Church, vol. 5, p. 466.) Joseph Smith, a little over six feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds, was thirty-eight years old at the time.

and here are possibly some of the best ever suggestions for a fun-filled Joseph Smith family activity night:

Have the children shake baby food jars 1/2 full of cream until it's butter, while watching "The Restoration" DVD. Let them have the butter on a little cornbread (a favorite food of Joseph's).

Stick-pull and thigh-poke games (ones Joseph liked).

Golden Plates Relay. Tell the children about all the things that happened when Joseph went to get the plates, and how heavy they were. Have a heavy object in 2 pillowcases, divide into teams and race each other around a mini-obstacle course. We had them go around a chair 2 times, under a table, weave in and out of a few chairs, and stop in a square at the end and do 2 jumping jacks, then back to the start. Serve a birthday cake at the end.

I have to point out that Joseph Smith eating birthday cake after his dangerous retrieval of the prop plates in pillowcases is a well-known anti-mormon canard.

[_Fence Sitter]

Stick-pull and thigh-poke games (ones Joseph liked).

*Sigh* Sure answer one question and leave me wondering what 'thigh poke' entails.

(Why do I have visions of an Angel with a flaming sword teaching Joseph how to play "thigh poke"?.)

[_Blixa]

Stick-pull and thigh-poke games (ones Joseph liked).

*Sigh* Sure answer one question and leave me wondering what 'thigh poke' entails.

(Why do I have visions of an Angel with a flaming sword teaching Joseph how to play "thigh poke"?.)

I am so sorry. I have never found any reference to a game called "thigh poke" except the one on this wacky blog. God knows, I've looked...

[_Fence Sitter]

-I am so sorry. I have never found any reference to a game called "thigh poke" except the one on this wacky blog. God knows, I've looked...

Well I would Google it but I am afraid of what might turn up.

[_Blixa]

-I am so sorry. I have never found any reference to a game called "thigh poke" except the one on this wacky blog. God knows, I've looked...

Well I would Google it but I am afraid of what might turn up.

Actually nothing that interesting. I know, strange, huh? I've been tempted to email the blogger on whose blog that alleged game title is found, but somehow I always find something else intervenes. Like looking at LOLcats for a few hours....

[_hobo1512]

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. They had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was persecuted much of his adult life and was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844.
http://www.pbs.org/americanprophet/joseph-smith.html

And of course he is still being hated as can be seen from many posters on this board.

Of course you admire him.

He was tapping all the young chicks around that fell for his line of crap, and all you were getting is/was a "Mormon lay".

[_hatersinmyward]

if someone were in a position of power and "did not" take any of the spoils: girls, money, allowing themselves to be worshiped as a god, that would make them Jesus Christ.

people would hate that person, look for a reason to smitten them, and attempt to make that person look a fool.

a person in that position, while just another person is subject to the same rules that apply to other people. some of those rules no matter how hard the people may want them to apply to that person do not apply. that person may think if they brake a rule it is right for them to do so because if they would have not broken that rule they would have had to do break a more outstanding rule that may look worse for them if they get caught. but in the eyes of other people its just a reason to take that person down.

[_Markk]

He was a veteran that served his country proudly. He was an author of a book that has sold millions of copies and is still in print today. He rose politically to the leader of a down trodden country and brought it up to one of the strongest economic powers of the times. He was admired by his followers and loved by millions. He was an endless work alcoholic that only wanted his people to have what he felt was best for them. But his enemies would have no part of this and fought against his ideals and dream, so much that fully depressed he took his own life along with his new bride in a lonely bunker in Berlin.

It is really to bad in that he was a builder of communities and cities, and a lover of his nation, and that if left along, he would have created his dream of a thousand years of happiness for his people.

Why me...context is always a good thing?

[_Joseph]

Yep, just like ya'gotta admire that Bin Laden who had half the world seeking after him...